When the New York Hilton Midtown said it was dispensing with room service starting in August, it caught the attention of frequent travelers who, after getting in from a long flight, have come to count on being able to order a burger at 2 a.m.
The news was particularly significant since room service itself was popularized about a half mile away in the 1930s at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which is now also part of the Hilton chain.
Plenty of hotels, however, are going the opposite way - trying to turn room service into a bigger draw. The number of hotels offering room service actually increased by 8 percent between 2011 and 2012, says Ned Barker, president of Grill Ventures Consulting Inc and spokesman on the issue for the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
"I don't see room service going away any time in the near future," says David Morgan, vice president of food and beverage for Omni Hotels & Resorts. "We would lose customers if we did not have in-room dining."